Spy Island is an intriguing new historical novel that is perfect for Jewish book clubs. The novel explores the little-known Caribbean Sephardic Jews that colonized such places as Recife, Suriname, Curacao, St. Eustacius, Jamaica, St. Thomas, and Panama. The novel was painstakingly researched and focuses on the plight of a Sephardic girl from Panama whose life is in upheaval at the height of WWI.
The Story:
In 1916, after the death of her parents in a railway accident along the Panama Canal, Abigail Maduro, a Caribbean Sephardic girl, is forced to leave her home in Panama and travel to the Danish West Indies to live with her Aunt Esther, a melancholic spinster, and her household of eccentric West Indian servants.
When Abigail arrives in St. Thomas, she finds herself on the receiving end of her aunt's vicious tirades, but basks in the love and warmth of Nana Jane, her housekeeper. Unbeknownst to Abigail, the island of St. Thomas is a hotbed of German spies and saboteurs under the leadership of Lothar Langsdorff, the German consul, who is using his Hamburg-America Line steamers and secret wireless radio to aid the Kaiser's war effort.
While out running an errand in the synagogue, Abigail stumbles into Erich Seibold, a stranded sailor, and is unwittingly hurled to the center of the conflict. Erich claims to be a merchant sailor but Abigail discovers that he is really a deserter from a German U-boat. Abigail hides Erich in the basement of her house and soon, friendship blossoms between the unlikely pair. When the island's German consul, Lothar Langsdorff, also discovers Erich's identity, he blackmails him into committing sabotage and murder.
After a melee involving the Danish governor, Abigail risks everything to save Erich, but can she stop Langsdorff's spy ring before they succeed in launching a German invasion of her tranquil island? Action and adventure abound in this colorful historical novel that brings to life Sephardic Jews in a fading West Indian sugar colony in the last days of Danish rule.
Spy Island is available on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Spy-
A Book Club discussion guide is available upon request.
Best Regards,
Rachel Bodner